Navigating through USCIS, EOIR, ICE for a Successful Conclusion
September 11th, 2013 by SRW Lawyers
A few months ago, a colleague of ours referred a case to us – a fairly complicated case involving Form I-751 with a waiver of the joint filing requirement, as well as removal proceedings, and which had already involved four immigration attorneys who were unable to successfully resolve the matter. When our client was referred to us, he had just attended his I-751 interview at the local USCIS Buffalo office and had received a Request for Evidence (RFE) requesting clarification of which waiver was being sought, and was also awaiting his next Master Calendar Hearing at the Immigration Court in Buffalo. He was anxious to resolve this matter as soon as possible, especially since his daughter (who lives abroad) was getting married soon and he desperately wanted to attend his daughter’s wedding. (As background, our client, a foreign national, was granted conditional permanent resident status based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Unfortunately, shortly after he arrived in the U.S. with his immigrant visa, the marriage deteriorated and the couple’s marriage fell apart. Having initially settled in California, our client ended up relocating to Western New York for an employment opportunity.)
After sorting through our client’s immigration history, we began working on the I-751 RFE Response. We worked with our client to gather affidavits from friends and family who were aware of the relationship, provided copies of his pay stubs evidencing his marital status as ‘married’, photos, etc. We also assisted the client in preparing a detailed personal statement, explaining his history, how the couple met and were married, how he immigrated to the U.S. and how the couple’s marriage fell apart and that they had since divorced, but the marriage had been entered into in good faith. Our firm also prepared a legal brief to support the I-751 RFE Response and explained the case’s history and how our client qualified for a waiver for the joint filing requirement. Less than 45 days later, we received a notice from the USCIS Buffalo Office that the I-751 had been approved and the conditions on our client’s permanent resident status had been removed. Our client received his new permanent resident card shortly thereafter.
Next, we went about addressing the removal proceedings. We contacted ICE Chief Counsel’s Office in Buffalo and explained that USCIS had approved the client’s I-751 and asked ICE to join us in a Joint Motion to Terminate Removal Proceedings since the ground of removability charged in the Notice to Appear (NTA) no longer applied. After receiving positive feedback from them, our office promptly drafted a Joint Motion to Terminate Removal Proceedings and sent it to ICE Chief Counsel’s Office for review. Within two weeks, we were able to file the Motion with the Immigration Court in Buffalo. A couple of weeks ago, we received the Immigration Judge’s Order granting the Motion.
Finally, we went about coordinating with our client’s Deportation Officer in Buffalo, New York to expedite the release of our client’s passport so he could travel abroad for his daughter’s wedding. We immediately provided the Deportation Officer with a copy of the Immigration Judge’s Order and explained that the client was anxious to attend his daughter’s wedding and requested his passport be released as soon as possible. About a week later, we were able to pick up the client’s passport and he drove to Buffalo to pick it up from our office.
Our client is now overseas, happily attending his daughter’s wedding and with the knowledge that his immigration battles are behind him. When he returns, we will be able to discuss the naturalization process with him and he will hopefully be a U.S. citizen in the upcoming months.
